Montreal Canadiens: Riley Kidney Lights Up the Mooseheads

Montreal Canadiens prospects had a weird year last season as many of them either had nowhere to play or their season’s were cut drastically short.

One player who had a shortened season was Riley Kidney. He put up 38 points in 33 games during a season that dealt with a number of stops and starts due to Covid. He also piled up 17 points in just nine playoff games for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

This season, Kidney has gotten off to a great start after being selected in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Canadiens.

Kidney is known as a smart, playmaking, two-way centre. He is terrific at face-offs, piles up points but also plays a great defensive game. He scored over a point per game last season and didn’t turn 18 years old until March when the season was winding down. You have to start wondering why he was still available when the Habs took him at 63rd overall.

His start to this season wouldn’t answer that question. Kidney looks better than ever, helping the Titan to a great start and he was in fine form against the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday night.

Kidney opened the scoring in the game when he picked up a puck at the Mooseheads blue line. He fought off his check and maintained possession of the puck before quickly darting to the middle of the ice, while creating separation from the player defending him. Suddenly he had tons of room at the top of the slot and he wisely took his time, picked his head up, found an open corner of the net and then fired a wrist shot that beat the Mooseheads netminder.

Less than three minutes later, Kidney was on the scoreboard again. This time, he picked up a breakout pass from his goaltender, right at the Mooseheads blue line. He gained the zone and took his time setting up since his team was on a power play. Once they were in place, he made a pass down low and then cut to the net. His teammate, Jacob Melanson, drove the puck to the net and it took a bit of a lucky bounce and ended up in the goal.

There was no luck involved in Kidney’s third point of the night. He picked up a breakout pass and blew past the defender that tried to slow him down. Kidney would not be stopped as he cut to the net, pulled the puck around the goaltender’s poke check and swept it into the goal on his back hand.

That goal stood as the game winner and Kidney finished the game with two goals and an assist in a 3-2 win.

Kidney is now up to nine goals and 21 points in 15 games played for the Titan who have cooled off after winning their first five games of the season. Kidney hasn’t cooled at all as he is 8th in the QMJHL in scoring early in the season.